Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/orange-county-homeless/)
Roughly 1,300 people are sleeping in homeless shelters throughout Orange County, with all big shelters located in north and central Orange County in cities like Santa Ana and Anaheim, according to unofficial numbers provided to Voice of OC.
The two-day count of people living on the streets of Orange County finished Thursday night.
But volunteer teams reported difficulty finding homeless people during the first day of the two-day countywide homeless count.
They’re counting the number of homeless people in each city as part of a requirement for federal funding to help combat homelessness.
Anaheim officials cleared out homeless encampments at Maxwell Park Friday morning and sent roughly 30 people to the newly opened 200-bed emergency homeless shelter near Angel Stadium four days before Christmas, as part of a settlement in a federal lawsuit.
An emergency 200-bed homeless shelter is slated to open near Angels Stadium Dec. 20 after the City Council decided its other two shelters, which are scheduled to open in early 2019, won’t be up in time to help homeless people escape the winter weather.
Anaheim could have a temporary homeless shelter next to the existing County homeless shelter by the 91 freeway, in the eastern part of the city.
Santa Ana Thursday unveiled its new 200-bed interim homeless shelter, dubbed The Link, that has beds for single men and women, limited beds for couples and space for families.
Orange County is on track to form a regional agency to build housing units aimed at helping curb the growing homeless crisis after Gov. Jerry Brown signed key legislation Tuesday.
West Anaheim’s Maxwell Park is facing a spike in homeless people staying in and around the park and homeless-related crimes, according to Anaheim Deputy Police Chief Julian Harvey.